According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, around 380,000 school-aged children in Australia have some form of disability. So, if you intend to launch a business as an NDIS provider that specifically supports children, you will be offering a lot of assistance to those who need it.
While you’ll no doubt be keen to hit the ground running, the process of becoming a registered NDIS provider features several stages, which can take time.
To give you an idea of what is involved here are some of the main ones you’ll need to complete.
1. Register Your Business with ASIC
By law, every business needs to operate under a legal structure. Typically, this is done as a sole trader, company, or partnership.
Before you can launch your business, you will need to register the legal structure you have chosen with ASIC, which in turn will provide you with an ABN.
To help you decide on the right legal structure for your business, it is a good idea to get proper advice from a lawyer.
2. Get a Blue Card
As your business will involve working with children, you will need to secure a blue card for all your employees.
The blue card system is designed to regulate who is allowed to work with children in certain activities that are essential to their health and development. This includes education, childcare, cultural activities and sports.
To get a blue card, a thorough background check is run on everyone who will work for your business.
3. Write a Business Plan
Before you launch your company, you should take the time to write a business plan. This will give you the direction you need to best support children as an NDIS-related service provider.
When writing the plan, make sure you clearly document your mission statement, objectives and goals. You should also outline what kind of child development and health services you will offer for children with disabilities, how you will go about delivering them and other aspects such as pricing and growth strategies.
As a start-up, it is worth planning for a 2 – 5 years period initially. You might also want to connect with an experienced business coach if you are not sure how to go about writing a robust business plan.
3. Register with the NDIS
For a business to be NDIS registered, you must apply for recognition from the NDIS Commission.
The best way to do this is to visit their website and fill out the application form. Try to answer all the questions as coherently and informatively as possible.
4. Complete a Self-Assessment and Certification Audit
Before you can be approved as an NDIS provider for children, you must complete two requirements – a self-assessment and a certification audit.
The self-assessment is designed to help you measure if your business currently meets the required NDIS standards for quality and safety. It is not something to be worried about, as it is a good opportunity to identify and enhance parts of your operation that might need fine tuning.
As well as the self-assessment, you will need to arrange for a certification audit to be done by an approved NDIS quality auditor. This will have to be done at your own expense. You can find some suitable companies or individuals on the NDIS website.
5. Wait for the decision
Once all the paperwork has been sent to the NDIS commission, they will make a judgement as to whether you should be approved or not to become an NDIS provider for children.
This process can take a bit of time, though typically it is between two weeks and a couple of months, depending on what you are applying to be approved for and how detailed your application is.
The NDIS will do a thorough review of your application and, if they approve it, will officially recognise you as an NDIS registered provider.
Should your application be turned down, you are entitled to launch an immediate appeal with the Administrative Appeals Tribunal. Alternatively, you could take their advice on board and reapply at a later time.
7. Launch your Business
If you have been approved as an NDIS business that supports children, you can start to trade straight away.
This may involve hiring and training staff who have the skills and experience to make a difference to your organisation. You may also need to set up a main office location and source relevant technology and equipment to help you run your business most effectively.
8. Help Children
You’ve launched your NDIS-related business to help children with disabilities. So, once you are up and running you should concentrate significant resources and effort on trying to do this.
Using this NDIS Software is a good starting point. However, you should also develop a strong promotional plan to attract new clients, incorporating social media, advertising and PR.
In addition, you should also seek feedback from customers and other industry professionals, who could offer insight into how you can constantly streamline and improve your overall business offering.